Typically, event planners create tiered sponsorship packages in order to appeal to potential sponsors. This approach means you give them a mix of attractive options (such as platinum, gold or silver) so they can find one to perfectly suit their budget and end-goal. Correct?
While this is somewhat true, you should also consider that maybe a potential sponsor isn’t that interested in the packages you’ve created. Maybe they would like to have a more proactive role in requesting what they’d like – something that really suits their brand image, their values and how they’d like to position themselves in front of your audience. Maybe it’s time to break the trend and do something different.
One alternative that is gaining traction is to offer an a la carte menu of sponsorship options. This means a sponsor can choose one or many items off the menu, all of which mean something to them. The sponsor won’t feel like some of their money is going towards things included in their package that they see no value in.
Top tip: A pro tip with this approach is to leave any prices off the menu you send out. This forces interested parties to contact you and have a conversation, which gives you a better opportunity to sell the idea of the options they are most interested in (or suggest others, if they seem more fitting).
With this approach, your sponsors are more likely to value the benefits from their sponsorship agreement, and therefore will be more likely to return year on year – and possibly pick up other sponsorship options along the way.
If you don’t want to forgo pre-set packages, consider at least giving your sponsors some flexibility to request or negotiate changes to the package so that it better suits their needs. Have a conversation with them so you understand what they’d like to achieve, and based on that tweak your proposal to help them meet these aims.
